


Super Natural

by Im_Chamsae



Series: The Worlds of Stephanie Brown [4]
Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Hunters, BAMF Stephanie Brown, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Stephanie Brown has abilities, Stephanie Brown is Batgirl, Stephanie Brown is Robin, Stephanie Brown is a Prophet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:40:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24478090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Im_Chamsae/pseuds/Im_Chamsae
Summary: After being forced to retire from the vigilante life with Barbara Gordon’s official return as Batgirl, Stephanie Brown decides to finally get away from it all and transfer to a University far away from Gotham… only to discover that she is a Prophet, that her abilities had just activated, and that she actually died from her injuries five years ago but was revived by Heaven because she has a destined role to play in a potentially upcoming Apocalypse.Honestly, can’t a girl catch a break?(Supernatural AU where Stephanie Brown is a Prophet of the Lord)
Relationships: Stephanie Brown & Barbara Gordon, Stephanie Brown & Bruce Wayne, Stephanie Brown & Leslie Thompkins, Stephanie Brown & Original Character(s), Stephanie Brown & Tim Drake
Series: The Worlds of Stephanie Brown [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1756969
Comments: 10
Kudos: 50





	Super Natural

**Author's Note:**

> Dean: “Must be rough… to believe in something so much and have it disappoint you like that.”
> 
> Layla: “I’m OK. Really. I guess if you’re gonna have faith, you can’t just have it when the miracles happen. You have to have it when they don’t.”
> 
> – Supernatural. (Season 1, Episode 12)

When Stephanie Brown opened her bright blue eyes, she was thoroughly confused.

The blonde girl took a moment to scan and survey her surroundings. She was pretty sure that it was only moments ago that she had been laying in a pool of her own blood on the floor of someone's basement cellar somewhere, and then suddenly, she was here – standing in a sort of line?

‘Well, I must be dead.’

That was the only explanation that Stephanie could come up with to explain why she was dressed in all white, not bleeding out from her fatal wounds, and was literally lining up to board a white and gold train that literally had the words, the ‘Heaven Express’ in cursive gold on it.

“Next,” she watched as the people in grey suits stood by the entrance to each train compartment, a clipboard in their hands as they ticked a sort of list before letting onboard each new passenger.

Stephanie waited awkwardly as she shuffled along quietly in the line. She craned her head backwards, but no matter how hard she looked, it didn’t look like there ever was an end to the line.

It all felt so weird to her.

Nobody seemed to be speaking as they all just waited patiently for their turn to the front of the que, before she had even realised it, it was her turn. She gulped nervously as she looked at the smartly dressed woman before her, meeting her eyes.

She looked so refined in her three-piece suit, her black haired tied up neatly in a bun. In all honesty, she was mildly intimidated by her but her worries disappeared when the woman sent her a warm smile.

“Name and date of birth, please?” She asked Stephanie, politely. Her eyes looking back down at the list in her hand.

The blonde shuffled in her spot for a moment before hesitantly replying, “Stephanie Rose Brown. 10th August 19XX.”

The woman froze for a moment, her eyes looking away from the list as she stared back at the young teen before her.

“…”

There was a brief moment of silence before the woman pressed her finger to a device in her ear, a communicator, “Mr. Colins, could you please come down to compartment 4? There has been a slight situation.” She didn’t elaborate any further. “Excuse me, Miss Brown, could you please step out of the line and wait over there, my colleague will be attending to you shortly.” She asked.

Stephanie obligated.

With that, the woman turned her attention to the next person in the que, “Name and date of birth, please?”

The blonde stood to the side awkwardly, she didn’t know what to do, or even what to think. She couldn’t help but notice that quite a few people had sent her curious glances as they shuffled past her, and onto the train.

It was long before a middle-aged man in a similar three-pieced grey suit came up to her, “Hello there, Miss Stephanie Brown, if you could please follow me.” He ushered her away from the train as they walked against the flow of people.

She didn’t know how, but they had managed to arrive an elevator. She noticed that there was only one button – down. The man, who she assumes was ‘Mr. Colins’ pressed to button as the doors of the elevator opened. “We’re very sorry, but could you please step into here.” He gestured for her to step in, so Stephanie did.

Only he didn’t follow.

Instead, the man smiled at her before closing the doors on her. “It’s truly been an honour.”

“Wait,” said Stephanie but the doors had already shut close.

She was silent as she felt it start to descend, but to where? There were no numbers, no buttons. She started to feel her heart race as she noticed the elevator start to shake as the pace of the elevator got faster and faster.

The button had said ‘Down’… as in Hell?

‘No, no, no! I don’t want to go to Hell!’

She let out a scream as her body was now pressed against the ceiling of the elevator that was falling now in descent.

' **No!** '

She sat up screaming.

When she opened her eyes, she realised that there was something on her. She ripped the white cloth off her face as she took a moment to breath. She placed a hand to her chest and let out a sigh of relief when she felt her own heart beat beneath her skin. It was then that she noticed the draft.

Aside from the white sheet that had covered her, she was naked under the cloth.

Wait, where was she?

It wasn't long after when Stephanie finally noticed that she wasn’t alone in the room.

A woman stood at the other side of the room, her expression mildly horrified as she watched the blonde girl in silence. She had looked as though she had just seen a ghost.

“Stephanie?” she asked, softly, almost in disbelief.

“Um, yes.”

Leslie Thompkins had seen a lot of things in her life.

It came with the territory of being a medic, especially in a city like Gotham. She had seen a lot of death in her time, some on her very own operating table and she accepted it. She had long understood that sometimes, she couldn’t always save everyone, no matter how hard she tried. But still, never in her life has she ever seen a dead body come back to life.

Especially after being dead for more than two days already.

She remembered very vividly the night that the Dark Knight had brought this girl in, mortally wounded and another young victim of the man’s crusade. She had tried her best to treat her wounds, but she had been too far gone and had passed away during the operation. It had been an unfortunate passing but secretly, Leslie had hoped that Stephanie’s death would teach Batman a lesson.

One to make him understand that he needed to stop using children as his partners because it was only endangering their lives, and may result in their death – like this one.

Or, so she had thought.

Leslie took a moment to gather her thoughts before she approached the now revived girl.

It had been impossible.

By all forms of death and its definitions, she was certain that Stephanie Brown had died. Her heartbeat had stopped, deeming her clinically dead. Eventually her brain had stopped functioning as well. By all means, she was certain when she had put the cloth over the blonde and tagged her that she was already gone.

She had already processed the paperwork, and signed her death certificate. The only process now was to release her body to her mother. However, due to the high number of fatalities as a result of the recent gang wars in Gotham, Crystal Brown had requested her to keep her daughter’s body for her until a mortuary could take the body in for Stephanie’s funeral.

Yet, here she was – alive and breathing in front of her.

“Stephanie, I’m Doctor Leslie Thompkins,” she introduced herself as she stood next to the blonde, her eyes glancing over at her body. “You’re at Thompkins Clinic right now and I know that you have a lot of questions to ask me, but would you mind if I gave you a quick check up first?”

The blonde nodded. She felt a bit awkward as the older woman pulled the white cloth off her naked body, but never the less, she let the doctor do her assessment.

‘Incredible,’ Leslie thought as she looked over Stephanie’s injuries and wounds, or rather, an absence of any of it. ‘Her body is perfectly unscathed, as if it had never been injured at all. No scars either…’ She pulled the sheet back on for the girl as she scanned over her face. There were no signs of bruising either. “You must have one hell of a guardian angel watching over you.” She told her.

“What happened to me?” asked Stephanie.

“Well, I guess you could say that I faked your death, Stephanie.” Said Leslie, helping the girl off the table. “But first, let’s get you some clothes.”

It was that moment that Leslie made the decision to take Stephanie with her to Africa, to give the girl another chance at start a better life.

One away from crime.

* * *

Bright blue eyes watched as the vehicle pulled up in front of the entrance of the building.

This was it.

“Alright, here we are, Miss,” said the driver, glancing back at her from his rear-view mirror. “Downey Hall, your new home. You must be excited.” He sent her a welcoming smile.

The blonde woman smiled back at him, “I am,” she told him as she reached over to pass him the money for the taxi fee. “Thanks for the ride.”

“No problem, let me help you with your bag.” The man proceeded to get out of the vehicle as he moved to get her large purple suitcase from the trunk.

With one final smile to herself, she got out of the car herself, shutting the door behind her. She ran a hand through her freshly cut blonde bob as she took a moment to get a good look at the residence hall before her, and then around to the rest of the University campus around her.

‘University of Wyoming – a new start.’

Again, one away from everything that she had ever known.

But this time, she was going to do it right.

‘Just like Leslie always wanted me to.’

“Here you go, Miss.” The voiced pulled her out of her thoughts as the driver placed her suitcase on the ground next to her.

“Thanks,” with one final appreciative wave to the driver, she pulled at the handle of her suitcase as she headed towards the entrance of her new home.

As she entered Downey Hall, it only took her a moment before she spotted the Welcome’s desk. With a smile, she approached the table.

Dark blue eyes looked up at her as she reached the table, “Hey there, welcome to Downey Hall,” greeted the young woman, she wore a dark yellow shirt with the University’s inconic cowboy logo and mascot on it. “Could I get your name please?”

“Stephanie Rose Brown.” Answered the blonde.

She was looking over a list, one that probably had the names of every new resident and their assigned rooms for the upcoming year. She let out a little hum as she ticked at a name, circling the room number before searching for a key. She smiled back at Stephanie as she passed the blonde a key and packet of papers.

“Alright then, here’s your dorm room key. Everything you need to know about getting settled here is in the information packet I handed you.” She told her as she led her down the hallway where Stephanie could only assume was where her room was, “we hope that you enjoy your first year with us.” The woman pointed her down a certain direction, “if you keep going down, your room should be on the left.”

“Thanks.”

With one final nod, she turned to return to the Welcome’s desk, leaving Stephanie to find her room herself.

When she arrived at her dorm room, there was one thing she immediately knew – it was that her new roommate was already inside.

Her dorm room was slightly ajar, Stephanie reached out and lightly knocked at it. She wasn’t sure, should she even need to knock since it was technically her room too? Then again, she didn’t exactly want to give her roommate a heart attack before even properly meeting her.

There was a patter of footsteps before the door opened to reveal at brunette haired young woman, she grinned back at her. “You must be my roommate.” Her hazel brown eyes twinkling as she brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear, she reached out her hand for her to shake. “Hello, I’m Dawn, Dawn Drew.” She introduced, happily. “It’s so nice to finally meet you.”

“Yeah, I’m Stephanie,” replied Stephanie, taking the girl’s hand as she shook it. “Stephanie Brown. It’s nice to meet you too.”

Dawn stepped aside as she made way for Stephanie to enter the dorm room, pulling her suitcase over to the only unoccupied bed in the room.

It was clear that Dawn had chosen to take the space on the right side of the room as Stephanie noted that she had already unpacked most of her stuff, her bed overflowing with light blue bedding and decorative pillows. This girl had a lot of stuff, that was one thing Stephanie had to say.

‘How did she even manage to pack all of this in a suitcase?’ Stephanie truly wondered. The girl had a white laced standing lamp next to her desk for goodness sakes.

“I hope you don’t mind that I already chose my side of the room,” said Dawn, walking around the blonde to take a seat on her bed. “It’s just that I came first and thought that I may as well start unpacking since I had so much stuff.”

“No, it’s alright.” Replied Stephanie, pulling her suitcase onto her bed. “I don’t really care which side of the room I get, as long as I have bed to sleep in at the end of the day, then I’m good.”

She proceeded to unzip her suitcase.

Dawn bit her bottom lip as she stared at her new roommate. There was something she definitely noticed from the moment she met the girl, “You’re not from around here, are you? Your accent, I can’t place it.”

Stephanie figured that people would notice, “Yeah, I’m from New Jersey.” ‘No need to mention Gotham,’ Stephanie was well aware that her home city was very well known for a lot of things across the states – one being its frightfully high crime rate and its reputation as the home of the big bad Bat.

Dawn’s eyes lit up excitedly, “Wow, you’re in a place really far away from home,” she said with a bright smile. “You’re really brave, Stephanie. I could never ever imagine going so far away from my home and family.”

Wow, this girl was really friendly.

It was almost scary to Stephanie how welcoming she was. It was drastically different from what she was used to back in Gotham, or her old University, where some people had been friendly and then the rest weren’t so nice. She couldn’t exactly blame them though, most locals tend to grow a thick skin when growing up in a crime ridden city like Gotham where sometimes, you just had to fend for yourself because anything could happen to you. 

But looking at Dawn, it made Stephanie wonder – was this what she could have possibly turned out like if she hadn’t been raised in Gotham? Or in a city that didn’t have superheroes or villains at all?

It was no secret that Wyoming didn’t exactly have its own resident superhero, one that was a member or associated with the Justice League. To be honest, it was probably one of the main reasons she had chosen to move here in the first place. But still, she couldn’t help but wonder what her life could have been sometimes? One without the vigilantism.

“So, I’m guessing you’re a local then?” Stephanie asked her, briefly glancing over at Dawn as she picked up her own set purple bedding – eggplant, just the way she liked it.

“Yep, Wyoming born and raise.” Answered the brunette, proudly. “I only live two hours away from here. It makes it easy for me to go home, after all, I promised my parents that I would come home during the weekends for Church. My father is the local pastor.”

Well that explained it.

Another reason why Stephanie Brown had decided to move from Gotham – she may or may not have started seeing things. And she was very sure that she was not going crazy, no matter how many times people tried to tell her otherwise.

Sure, she may have gotten a few good concussions over the years during her time as Batgirl, but it had never really been enough to cause any severe brain damage, Leslie had verified so herself. Still, it didn’t explain the weird things that had started to happen to her.

It had only started happening recently.

Around a month ago.

One day she was fine. The next, she starting seeing a sort of glowing aura from the people around her, glows that gave her an intuitive sense about what the person was like – whether they were good or bad. She couldn’t explain it, it just happened and she had learnt from her experiences at Gotham that she was never wrong about her judgements. It didn’t take long for Stephanie to learn that she needed to keep quiet about her newfound ability, she was trying to live a normal crime free life after all.

But living in a city like Gotham with this sort of ability was tough. She had always been a crime fighter at heart, so it took her a lot of restraint to walk down a single street without having the urge to memorise the face of every person she saw who was surrounded by a dark glow. She had to remind herself that she wasn’t a Bat, or a vigilante anymore. It wasn’t her responsibility to handle this or even do anything.

She held it in for a while at first, resisting the urge to fall back into her vigilante ways but eventually she couldn't stand it anymore. So, she finally decided to move away from Gotham, to actually get a proper start this time, which is what led her here.

Luckily for her though, so far, she had only really encountered people who seemed to have a relatively bright white glow around them. Some brighter than others, Dawn’s one being probably the brightest she had ever seen so far. She was willing to bet that this sweet girl had never sinned before in her life, and that was assuring to the blonde.

“Wow, that’s nice.” Remarked Stephanie. “My mom’s an ER nurse. She’s normally really busy, but I think my mom was only planning on coming over to visit me during the Christmas break.”

“That’s so sweet of her to come here but wouldn’t it be better for you to go home? That way you could also go and meet up with some old friends.” asked Dawn, curiously.

‘Christmas in Gotham city, nah.’ That’s just asking to get robbed in the middle of the street.

Christmas in Gotham city was probably one of the busiest holidays of the year, but also one of the most dangerous. Not everyone could afford the luxury of Christmas and it really showed at times. There was always an increased amount of time around the Christmas period, most in the form of robberies and purse (or gift) snatches, and there was no way in hell she was going back there.

“No, she really insisted on coming here instead. She wanted to see where I was studying now since she couldn’t send me off.”

It was kind of true, her mom did want to come over to Wyoming to see her. She would have joined her to send her off at her new school, but the work had started to pile up at West Mercy Hospital, and they really needed all the hands they could get.

“Oh okay. That’s still a really long time away though.” Said Dawn. The brunette was silent for a moment before speaking up, “Hey, there’s going to be a party held later tonight. Do you want to come with me and some of my friends?”

Stephanie paused for a moment before shrugging, she didn’t see the harm in going. “Yeah, sure. Why not?” answered the blonde, much to the delight of her new friend. “Is it any sort of party?” she asked.

“Well, it’s a fresher costume party – the theme is ‘Heaven or Hell’.”

“Cute.” Stephanie smirked. “I think I might have an outfit for that.”

She felt a slight chill.

Stephanie quickly snapped her head to the window, her blue eyes narrowing.

“Is something the matter?” asked Dawn, her eyes following the blonde’s line of sight. All she saw was the large tree in front of the residence hall, there was nothing else there.

“No,” said Stephanie, sending a reassuring smile back to Dawn. “It’s nothing.”

‘Although, I could have sworn there was someone watching us.’

She didn’t like it, but she had an unsettling feeling in her gut that something big was going to happen to her, she just didn’t know what.

* * *

The party was held at one of the local bars located downtown near the main campus.

She had to admit, if she had ever gone for her first Freshers party back at Gotham U, this was probably how she’d imagine it – dance floor packed full of people, piss poor music playing in the background and a lot of underaged alcohol. And don’t get her started on the party costumes, some were really out there but from where she was sat, she could see that there a lot of angel wings and devil horns out on the dancefloor. She was more curious to know how they even had the time to prepare all these props beforehand.

‘Yep, steering clear of that disaster zone for the night.’ She was not up to getting stabbed by plastic pitchforks.

Stephanie nodded to herself as she sipped her drink, it was non-alcoholic. She’d hadn’t really felt like drinking so she got the same tropical fruit mocktail that Dawn had order, a far difference from the brunette's other high school friends who decided to finally embrace their new found freedom.

“Are you having fun, Stephanie?” asked Dawn, smiling over at her from where she was sat the other end of their table that they had grabbed when they first arrived.

“I’m alright.”

The blonde sitting beside her, who had excitedly introduced herself as Jessica, smiled at her as she picked up her phone from the table. “Hey, what’s your socials? We should all exchange handles!”

Stephanie took the phone from her to see that Jessica had already opened her Facebook for her to add herself. “Oh, here you go.” She typed in the name of her newly made account and easily found herself before passing it back to her.

The redhead, another one of Dawn’s high school friends, Amy leaned over to look at Jessica’s phone. “You only made your Facebook account last week?” She asked, incredulously.

“Oh, yeah,” said Stephanie, nonchalantly. She saw the look shared between Jessica and Amy as they glanced at each other, she frowned. “Why? Is that weird?”

“No, it’s nothing, Stephanie.” Said Dawn, speaking up as she sent her a reassuring smile. “Hey, I’ve got an idea. Let’s all dance!” She got up from her seat, Amy and Jessica stood up as well, both grinning as they were ready to finally hit the dance floor and let loose.

Stephanie stood up as well, pulling down at the hem of her off-shoulder white dress but she didn’t make any moves to follow them. “Oh, it’s alright, I think I’m going to get myself a drink.” She told them, pointing back towards the bar. She didn’t miss the eye roll that Amy had sent her way. “I’ll find you guys later.” She said, her eyes meeting with Dawn’s.

“Oh, okay.” Replied Dawn before Amy grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the dance floor.

Even as they walked away, Stephanie could still hear them clearly over the music playing in the background. It was one of the skills she had picked up from years in the field as a vigilante. 

_“Why did you invite her, Dawn? She’s so weird.”_

_“She’s my roommate, Jessica.”_ Dawn’s voice replied. _“There’s nothing wrong with getting to know each other better since we’re going to be living together for a year.”_

 _“Isn’t it a little suspicious? A new Facebook account? Right before college? Sounds like she’s trying to hide something.”_ It was Amy. She could already tell that she would not be getting along very much with the redhead from the snide undertone she could hear in her voice.

 _“She also moved pretty far away too.”_ Added Jessica.

 _“Guys, stop it. Maybe she’s had a rough life before and just wants to start anew, and if that's the case, then we should respect that.”_ Interjected Dawn.

_“You’re way too nice, Dawn.”_

She really was.

In a way, Stephanie felt kind of bad for turning down Dawn’s offer to dance with her and friends. She knew the girl was being friendly and only trying to help get her settled, and she truly did appreciate her roommate’s attempts but she didn’t think she would be hanging out with her friends again anytime soon. They didn’t particularly like her very much and she could say the same for them, especially Amy – the girl reminded her way too much of Jordanna. 

The thought of similarities made her just frown.

As Stephanie stepped got closer to the bar, she felt a sudden chill creep down her neck. The blonde flinched as her hand whipped around to survey her surroundings. She didn’t know why but hadn’t been able to shake off the feeling that somebody was still watching her, and has been for a while now. It was starting to irk her that she hadn’t been able to pinpoint the culprit yet.

“Excuse me, Miss,” Stephanie turned back to see one of the bartenders in front of her. “What can I get you?”

She didn’t feel like grabbing another drink anymore, that sensational chill had killed her mood for the rest of the night. “Nah, it’s fine.” She told the man before turning away.

She didn’t feel like sticking around anymore.

Her blue eyes narrowed as she scanned the dance floor, searching for her roommate and her friends in the sea of people. ‘I should probably tell Dawn.’

It wasn’t that hard to spot them considering that Jessica had mounted a random guy’s shoulder and was waving a black and red plastic pitchfork in the air as the bounced to the music. Wow, it was starting to get pretty wild up in there. She watched with amusement as the pitchfork fell from the blonde’s hand before falling onto someone else’s head, not that any of them noticed.

‘And this is why I’m not out there dancing. It’s a hazard zone, a disaster just waiting to happen.’

Bracing herself, Stephanie clutched her purse to her chest as she proceeded to squeeze her way through a mass of bodies before she finally spotted Dawn.

The brunette’s eyes lit up as she bounded over to her, grinning as she did. “Hey, did you finally decide to join us?” She had to shout a little to be heard since they were closer to the speakers now.

“Um, no. I just wanted to tell you that I’m going back first, you know, I’m just feeling a little tired from travelling today. I kind of want to turn in early tonight.” Said Stephanie.

“Oh, okay.” Replied Dawn, she sounded a little dejected. “Do you remember the way back to Downey Hall? I mean, I can walk back with you.” She offered.

“No, it’s alright. I remember way back; you stay here and enjoy the party with your friends.” She told her, reassuringly. She didn’t want to ruin her night out with her friends. Just because she didn’t feel like staying anymore, it didn’t mean that Dawn had to leave too. “I’ll see you back in the dorms.” She gave her a wave, but not before catching Amy’s disapproving frown at her.

“Alright, bye, Stephanie.” Dawn waved back at her before turning back to her friend, who must have clearly been listening in.

 _“I told you she was weird.”_ Said Amy.

The moment she was through the doors, Stephanie had never been so relieved to leave. She took a moment to take in the fresh night air before pulling her leather jacket closer to her body. With that, she started to walk her way back to Downey Hall. It wasn’t too hard to remember the path that they had taken earlier during the evening.

Now that they were outside, and away from all the people in the bar, it was evidently clear to her that she was being tailed. After walking for the past ten minutes, the blonde finally stopped in the middle of the street, a frown on her lips as she spoke. “Look, I know you’re there so come out and stop following me.”

There was a moment of silence before she spotted a figure coming out from its hiding place. It was just the guy who had tried to hit on her when she first got to the bar, “Oh, it’s just you.” She stated, folding her arms across her chest. “Look I’m not interested.”

The guy stumbled for a bit as he tried to get closer to her, a smile on his lips. “Don’t be like that, cutie.” He had managed to say with slurred words. “Who knows, the Bradley could show you a pretty good time.”

Stephanie shuddered as she watched him take a few steps closer to her. This guy was clearly intoxicated out of his mind, how he was still even able to walk was amazing to her. “No, now leave me alone.” With that she turned away.

“Come on now, don’t be that way.” He was closer to her now, he reached out to grab her arm.

Big mistake.

The moment she saw his hand lunge towards her, all those years of self-defence and fighting training kicked in. She instinctively grabbed his wrist before flipping him to the ground, stunning the man, “I said no, now beat it.” Her blue eyes were blazing now, she was mad that he had even tried to grab her. “Creep.”

With that, she started to walk away, but not before glancing back to see that he was slowly starting to get back to his feet. He stumbled over a few times, but other than that, he seemed as fine as a drunk person could be.

Satisfied, she continued to make her way back to her dorms but at a slightly quicker pace than before.

After getting changed out of her clothes and freshened up, she dropped onto her bed, laying down for a moment. Her phone flashed for a moment, indicating that she had a new message.

 _‘_ **Mom: How is everything?’**

She smiled to herself, her mom must have gotten another night shift today. It was only other explanation she could think of for her mom’s oddly timed message.

**‘Good, everything here is going alright.’**

**‘The people are nice.’**

No need to tell her about the guy who had been following her.

**‘Mom: That’s a relief.’**

**‘Mom: Stay safe and out of trouble, Stephanie. I love you.’**

It brought a smile to her lips as she typed back her final message before turning in for the night.

**‘I love you too, mom.’**

When morning came, the first thing Stephanie noticed was the noise.

Because there was a lot of it, and it was all way too familiar for her liking.

‘What the…’

The sounds of police sirens blasting loudly outside their window was what made the blonde pull her duvet away from her face, squinting at the bright light that was shining into their dorm room from outside. She immediately noticed that Dawn was standing by the window, staring outside in her pajamas. A worried expression etched onto her face.

Stephanie sat up as she got off her bed to join her, “Did something happen?” She asked, taking a look outside as well.

There were at least three cars, and six officers but she didn’t see any police taping, so there wasn’t exactly a crime scene. She raised a brow as she noted how the police officers had split off into teams, some were interviewing students outside, while others scouted the surrounding areas.

“They say that there was a murder last night, some guy called Bradley.” Said Dawn, her voice low as she bit her bottom lip nervously. “They’re saying that his heart got ripped out from his chest.”

‘Bradley, as in the drunk guy from last night?’ She didn’t like the sinking feeling that had started to pit in her stomach.

“Who could have done something as terrible like that?” Whispered Dawn, her eyes tearing up slightly.

She placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, Stephanie could tell that she was terrified out of her wits from the way she was biting her bottom lip. Poor girl had probably never had to encounter a crime like this before in her life.

“Hey, it’s going to be alright, Dawn.” Said Stephanie, her eyes flickering back to the scene below them. Dawn nodded, quietly.

She noted that an officer had been watching them, her gaze met his as she held it for a moment. The man stared back at her before turning away as he gestured to his colleague, she didn’t like the way they were both looking back at her now.

“It happened really close to where the party was last night as well.” Said Dawn. “Apparently it happened along a road leading back to Downey Hall,” she told her. “We walked the same path to the bar last night too.”

“You didn’t walk back?” Stephanie couldn’t help but ask curiously.

Dawn shook her head, “No, I split a cab with Jess and Amy. It was pretty late when we left the party last night.” Stephanie nodded in understanding.

“I see.”

She knew she didn’t like the look the officers were giving her, and it wasn’t because of her childhood as the daughter of a convicted criminal.

“Hello?” She had popped her head out to answer a knock on their room door.

Standing outside was none other than the man she had spotted downstairs only a few moments ago, “Hi, I’m Officer Jenkins and this is Officer Braun, are you Miss Stephanie Brown?” He asked. The blonde nodded. “Would you mind if we talked to you for a moment?” The man asked.

Stephanie shared a look with Dawn, the brunette nodded back at her. “Oh yeah, sure.” She left Officer Jenkins and his companion into the room. “Is this about last night? What happened with Bradley?”

“Yes, people reported seeing him leaving after you. Would you mind telling us what happened last night?” asked Officer Jenkins, looking directly at the blonde.

Dawn’s mouth had opened slightly as she stared back at her roommate in shock but she didn’t speak, like Office Jenkins, she also waited to hear the blonde’s answer.

“Well, I wasn’t feeling well during the party so I left early to get back to my dorm.” Began Stephanie, “I guess Bradley had seen me leave so he followed me out. For a while, he kind of followed me before I finally told him to come out and leave me alone. He was really drunk by that point.” She told him. “He tried to hit on me again like he had done so earlier that night, and I said ‘no’ again, but he wouldn’t listen and tried to make a grab for me. So, I flipped him over, and I left.”

Officer Jenkins raised a disbelieving brow, “You flipped him? Bradley happens to be a pretty big guy, Miss Brown.”

Stephanie frowned, crossing her arms across her chest. She was used to looks like this. She knew she wasn’t exactly the tallest or biggest person in the world, but still, she hated it when people underestimated her because of her size. 

“Yeah, he was taller and more built than me but I’ve taking martial art classes for years now, I’ve flipped bigger guys over before.” She bluntly shot back. “Look, I swear he was still alive when I left him. He was getting off the ground when I had last seen him, I had nothing to do with his death. The only thing I did was reject his advances, and I don’t think that’s a crime.”

It was then that Officer Braun decided to speak up, “Look, we’re not accusing you of anything, Miss Brown. We just want to get a full picture of what happened last night.” He told her before the communicator on his belt went off, “Just a moment.” He picked up as he listened to other line. After a moment he nodded before turning back to her, “Well, Downey Hall security entry records and footage shows you tapping in last night into your dorm before Bradley’s estimated time of death.” Stephanie threw her arms up in the air. “Guess that means you’re in the clear, Miss Brown.”

“Thank god,”

“But if you remember anything about last night, please don’t hesitate to tell us.” Said Officer Jenkins as he handed over a card.

She took the card as the two officers began to leave, “Understood, Officer.”

The moment they left, she glanced over at Dawn who had remained silent throughout the entire interaction. “I can’t believe it,” she muttered softly.

“Dawn –“ She was cut off as the brunette ran over and embraced her in a hug.

“You were so close to the crime scene, Stephanie.” She told her. “It could have been you. I know it’s a terrible thing to say but thank god it wasn’t you.” Dawn frowned slightly.

Stephanie hugged the girl back, “Yeah, thank god.” 

“Someone out there must really be watching over you.” Said Dawn, smiling back at her.

She honestly doubted it but didn’t want to dampen the brunette’s hopes and mood right now.

“Yeah, I guess.”

* * *

It was only during the mid-afternoon when all the commotion outside Downey Hall died down when the police cars finally left.

Deciding that now would be an ideal time to go grab supplies, she had decided to head on out by herself. Dawn had offered to join her but the girl had already made a previous promise to meet up with Amy beforehand. Luckily, Dawn had been kind enough to point out where she could buy the certain items she needed, and had even given her a map to help her out.

Before she had left, Dawn had given her a look and made her promise to call her if anything happened. She was still shaken up and scared about the whole Bradley situation – quite a few people were actually. It wasn’t very often that someone got murdered like this, and it didn’t help that the guy’s murderer was still at large.

In all honesty, she wasn’t that worried about the whole murderer-at-large thing. She knew how to protect herself, and maybe it was also because she had grown up in a neighbourhood where anyone could have been a murderer if they had enough motivation to do so. She had learnt from a young age to trust no one, not even her own father.

But still, she still couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being followed.

She was sure last night that it had to be Bradley, but right now, she couldn’t figure it out at all. She had been careful after stepping out of her dorm room, making sure to scan her surroundings and pick out each face she had come across, but she was certain none of those faces had ever reappeared after she had first cross paths with them. She didn’t like it; she didn’t like where this was all going.

The murder of a drunk, where she just happened to be the last person that he had talked to him before his death. The intuitive gut feeling that she was being watched and followed ever since she first arrived here at the campus – she didn’t like at all.

It felt as thought someone was setting her up for something.

She could be paranoid but in her former line of work, coincidences like these didn’t exist and she had learnt long ago to always trust her instincts.

As she turned the corner, her heart leapt out of her chest as she took a few steps back. Her blue eyes widened in absolute disbelief, the shopping bags in her hands dropped to the ground.

‘Holy shit.’

The person? Metahuman? She didn’t even know; all she knew was this being towered over her as it stared right at her with predatory wolf-like features. It was then she noticed the dangerously sharp long claws and fangs as the werewolf-like being snarled fiercely at her.

She gave in to her instincts – she bolted, running back around the corner as she headed the other way.

She didn’t know if she was even going to be able to outrun this thing but she sure as hell wasn’t going to die tonight. As she glanced back, she noticed that it didn’t seem to pursue her. ‘Good,’ but that didn’t mean she could let her guard down still.

She soon found herself in another corner, dunking lowly near a bunch of trash bins. She hoped that the smell of garbage could somehow conceal her scent if that thing was still out there looking for her. She knew she was being a little paranoid now, but she didn’t want to risk taking any chances.

Stephanie grabbed her phone as she bit her bottom lip.

God, who was she even going to call? Who would even believe her? There was no way she would be calling Dawn, no need to scare the poor thing. Officer Jenkins? Braun? They wouldn’t believe her. Werewolves didn’t exist and they would definitely call her crazy.

At that moment, she realised who she could call. She dialled the number, her blue eyes frantically glancing around her as she scanned her perimeter for any signs of the being that she had run from.

She heard the line cut.

Frowning, she redialled the number again. “Come on Tim, pick up!”

One the third try, she finally heard the sound of the line connecting to the other side. ‘About time.’ She let out a sigh of relief, “Tim, I need your help, you won’– “

 _“Why are you calling me?”_ His tone was harsh. _Cold_ – she was a little taken back by it.

“What? I got fired a second time and now I can’t call you anymore because I’m not one of you guys?” Radio silence. “Wait, are you for real? You guys were told to never contact me again, didn’t you? Bruce fucking blacklisted me, didn’t he?” She couldn’t believe this.

_“Steph,”_

“No! Fuck you, Timothy Jackson Drake. And fuck the rest of you who are listening to this call. Fine, you can have your stupid wish.” She hung up. ‘Unbelievable!’ She turned, only to see the very being that she had been running away from before, standing right in front of her.

It let out another snarl as it took a step towards her, it was definitely hungry.

“Ah shit,” Stephanie took a step back. She internally swore her bad luck as she eyed the being in front of her, now that she actually took a better look at it, she could see a sort of silver energy radiating off its body but appeared to be mixed with black glow here and there. That wasn’t what she normally saw, but all she knew for sure was that this creature had no good intentions towards what it was about to do.

Well, guess she couldn’t run anymore since it could track her scent.

Stephanie pulled out her collapsible stick that she always kept inside her left boot, taking it out to form a purple staff – the one thing she had ‘forgotten’ to return to Barbara, and had kept from her Batgirl suit. She was pretty sure that Barbara had noticed but chose not to say something, and she was grateful for that. In a way, this collapsible stick was the last thing she had to remember time as Batgirl.

She dropped into a fighting stance, “Come at me, bitch-boy. You’ve caught me at a bad time and I’ve got a lot of steam to kill right now.” She didn’t know if it could understand her or not, but from the way it growled, she think it did.

It opened its jaws before it pounced on her.

Her blues eyes narrowed, getting ready to intercept the oncoming attack but the sounds of a shotgun rung out clear in the air stunning her as she watched the projectile hit the being’s left shoulder. There was a whimper as the werewolf crashed onto the ground, it was clearly in pain as it tried to get up.

Stephanie watched frozen as she watched a young woman in a black leather jacket, who must have only been older than her by only a few years, take another shot. The bullet from the shot gun exploding as it hit the being’s abdomen, it cried out in pain again.

Her eyes widened in recognition, ‘Wait a minute.’ It was the person who had checked her in at the Welcomes’ desk yesterday.

The young woman lowered her shotgun for a moment before turning to look at her with a hint of amusement in her dark blue eyes, “Bitch-boy? Really? That was the best you could come up with?”

Stephanie flushed in embarrassment, ‘Damn, she heard that.’ “I was in the heat of the moment!” Wait a minute, “Is that really what you’re concerned about considering I nearly just died?”

“Touché.”

The young woman remarked before tossing her shotgun towards her, Stephanie dropped her collapsible stick as she caught the firearm. Her knees nearly buckled from the wait of the weapon, ‘Holy crap.’ This shotgun was heavy as hell.

“How good are you with blood?”

“What?” To Stephanie’s amazement, the young woman had pulled out a machete from her leather jacket as she took strides towards the werewolf. “Um, pretty good, I guess.” She had seen a lot during her time as a vigilante, she’d say she was fairly okay with blood.

“Good.”

Without a slight hesitation, she had decapitated the creature in one clean slice. Its blood splattered across the wall behind it and onto the garbage bins.

Stephanie let out a squeak, ‘Holy shit!’

She had seen a lot of brutality in her time, but it didn’t mean it she was okay with it. “Oh my god,” her heart started to race. “What did you just do?”

“Look, I’m just doing my job. I’m a Hunter.” Explained the young woman as she wiped the machete clean before putting it back in her jacket. “You know that Bradley murder last night?” Stephanie nodded. “Well, this bitch-boy over here was the culprit of it.”

She grabbed her shotgun back from Stephanie. “So, it ate his heart?”

“Most werewolves do. It’s the first thing they go for,” she told her before facing to look at Stephanie, “So, um, do you know why you were attacked?”

Stephanie didn’t even know how to respond to that, “I don’t know? Maybe because I was the nearest person to it?” God, she felt like she was truly losing it now. She picked up her collapsible stick from the ground, folding it back into its travel friendly size as she gripped it tightly in her hands.

“Are you alright?” asked the young woman.

Really? 

“No!” Stephanie didn’t mean to snap back at her, but considering everything had just happened, she really didn’t know how to feel about anything anymore. “I just nearly became werewolf food, _werewolf_ ,” she heavily emphasised the last part. “Werewolves aren’t real, they’re just an urban legend.” She told her before her eyes stared up at the half moon, pointing at it exasperatedly. “It’s not even a full moon tonight.”

The young woman let out a sigh, she held up a palm, “Alright, you’re clearly upset and a lot has been happening to you lately.”

‘No shit!’ Stephanie rolled her eyes.

“I’m going to give you my number, just give me a call when you’re ready to talk or if you remember anything, okay?” She held out a piece of paper that she had quickly scribbled her number onto for the blonde to take.

Stephanie frowns, but reluctantly takes the paper. “Fine.” She’s been taking a lot of numbers today.

She turned away and started to make her way back to Downey Hall, but not before turning to see the young woman start to torch the corpse. She stared back at the paper in her hand, noticing that the Hunter had written a small message as well.

**‘Don’t hesitate to call me – M.’**

Yeah, fat chance in that ever happening.

* * *

She didn’t bother to go back to the shops after that.

Instead, she decided that she just wanted to go to bed and completely forget the day that she just had.

Upon entering her dorm room, the first thing she noticed was that it was dark.

‘Odd,’ Dawn had told her that she would be back before sunset but she saw no indication of her roommate, her bed was empty too. ‘Oh right.’

She pulled her phone out to give the brunette a call, she had promised to call her, but she was not going to tell her about werewolf thing. As she dialled, a phone on the desk at the opposite side of the room lit up.

‘Wait.’ With a raised brow, she stared over at the phone – it was Dawn’s.

If her phone was here, then where was she?

_Drip._

Her blue widened as she noticed the droplet of red that has fallen onto her bed from above, ‘What?’ She looked up.

A scream erupted from her throat as Dawn’s blank dead face stared back at her. Blood dripped down from her slightly opened mouth.

“ _Oh my god_ ,” whispered Stephanie as she moved away from the bed. “Dawn…”

Her body had been sliced into two. A clearly defined cut at her torso glared back at her, the blood splattered across the ceiling looked relatively fresh.

How had she not even noticed that?

A dead body pinned on her ceiling; it should have been the first thing she saw when she came in.

Her eyes widened as she noticed a figure sitting on Dawn’s bed, observing her quietly – ‘Amy.’

Stephanie could have sworn she had been alone in this room only a second ago, ‘How? When did she?’ She instinctively dropped into a fighting stance.

“Well, you sure took your golly sweet time getting back here,” chuckled Amy with a smile, standing up as she moved towards her.

“Amy, what the…” she began to speak before cutting off.

Stephanie had always suspected that Amy’s glow hadn’t been as pure as Dawn’s, and maybe had a little bit of black in it at times. In all honesty, she hadn’t fully been able to get a full grasp of her aura at all since they had only met at the bar last night, and it was full of people, so there had been multiple overlapping glowing auras.

But now that it was just the two of them, she could see it clearly – an all-black energy or glow that clouded around the redhead as she took steps closer to her.

Just as Dawn’s glow had been bright and oozing off goodness, Amy’s darkness was visible and sent warning signs down her spine. It screamed of danger and bad intentions; she didn’t doubt for a second that she had murdered Dawn.

“Why?” asked Stephanie, fiercely. “She was one of your best friends.”

Amy paused before chuckling softly to herself, she ran a hand through her hair. “She was Amy’s best friend.” She told her before blinking to reveal full all-black eyes. “I’m not Amy, my dear.” She smirked as she raised her hand out, sending Stephanie’s body flying back as she hit the wall.

Stephanie winced from the impact, she tried to fight back but it was as though an invisible force was keeping her pinned.

‘Amy’ let out a satisfied hum, “You know what they say, if you want something done, do it yourself.” She walked over to her. “That mutt was useless anyway.” Within seconds, she had wrapped her hands across Stephanie’s neck.

She cried out as she tried as hard as she could to struggle against her. She wasn’t pinned down anymore as she tried to loosen the girl’s hold on her neck, but she wasn’t budging. For a girl of her petite size, she was inhumanly strong.

“Struggle all you want, but you’re going to die right here and right now, Stephanie Brown.”

Suddenly, the room began to shake.

‘An earthquake?’

Stephanie wasn’t sure what was going on, but there was no mistaking the look of fear that flashed across ‘Amy’s face, her grip loosened slightly but not entirely letting go completely as they both watched the room shake more violently now. Items flew off bookshelves as they came crashing down onto the ground of the dormitory room, the room lights began flickering on and off. As the shaking got stronger, the flickering got quicker until the lightbulbs exploded.

“No, no, no,” there is a hurried panic in ‘Amy’s voice before she turns back Stephanie, her face determined as she goes for the finishing blow.

But it never comes.

Instead, a bright light explodes in the centre of the room, and before she knows it, a force rips ‘Amy’ away from her.

She lets out a gasp of air as she begins to fill her lungs with oxygen, her hands moving to touch her neck where she was sure had bruising on it. She sees a pair of low-heeled boots, one that she didn’t recognise as she glanced up to see a newcomer.

She wore a dark grey trench coat, and had bright caramel hair tied up into a high ponytail. She couldn’t see her face as the young woman had her back was faced to her, standing defensively in front of her. For a moment, everything stilled as there was a crack of lighting in the distance.

Stephanie’s blue eyes widened as she watched a pair of open angel wings flap open from the newcomer’s shadow.

‘An angel?’

‘Amy’ stood up cautiously, seizing up the newcomer. To the blonde’s surprise, she didn’t attack. Instead, she let out a scream as she tilted her head back. A dark stream of air started to stream out at a rapid pace but it was cut off as the newcomer placed their open palm against her mouth.

Stephanie could see it now, the fear on ‘Amy’s face as her full black eyes were gone.

“Please, don’t kill me.” Came a muffled plead from ‘Amy’.

The newcomer didn’t agree.

From her open palm that held ‘Amy’, a blinding light shone as ‘Amy’s body momentarily lit up. Bright white lights shining out of her eyes before her body dropped wordlessly onto the ground by the newcomer’s feet. She was very clearly dead as the sockets of her eyes had been completely burnt out.

Stephanie scurried back against the wall as she stared at ‘Amy’s corpse, “Oh my god, oh my god.” She whispered in panic, her eyes glancing between the fresh dead body to the newcomer who had turned to look back her. ‘She burnt her eyes out!’ She was terrified, what if she was next?

For a moment, the newcomer didn’t speak.

Instead, she took a moment to stare back at the blonde before noticing that she was still rubbing at the bruise on her neck. At that, she walked over to the blonde.

Stephanie flinched, shutting her eyes as she prepared for the worse. Instead, she felt a light tap on her forehead, from it – nothing. When it pulled away, she opened her eyes and all the pain that she had felt before was gone.

The newcomer held out a hand for her to take.

Hesitantly, she took it as she helped Stephanie back up onto her feet. “Thank you.”

“Not a problem,” said the newcomer, her voice elegant and calm.

It suited her.

She looked like a pretty elegant person now that Stephanie got a closer look at her, but the glowing aura around her… it seemed familiar. It was bright, but colourless. She couldn’t see it but she could feel a sense of comfort radiating off her. It was weird.

Stephanie didn’t know why, but she knew that she was safe around her. 

“Stephanie Rose Brown.” Said the stranger. “It is truly an honour to meet you, Prophet of the Lord.”

‘Wait, what?’ She didn’t get to think about it much longer before the door of the dorm room kicked open as the Hunter, M, from earlier came barging through, a machete in one hand.

She only took one look at the young woman in the trench coat before whipping out an item that resembled a silver blade, except it was blunt at its tip. Her dark blue eyes narrowed as she seized up the newcomer.

Stephanie didn’t understand the significance of the item but the stranger in the trench coat certainly did.

She held up a palm at M, “Stand down, Hunter. I was only protecting the Prophet.”

At that, M stared over to where Stephanie stood dumbfounded.

She had thought she had misheard the first time, but apparently, she hadn’t. M seemed to echo the same sentiments as she exclaimed equally confused, “I’m sorry, what?”

* * *

She nursed the beer in hand.

After everything that has happened in the past two days, she finally gave in and needed a drink.

They were sat in a booth at the back of one of the campus bars, an odd choice for a place to have this discussion but M had insisted that they remove themselves from the crime scene and go elsewhere to discuss matters at hand.

Stephanie wearily eyed the line of ten shots that had been ordered by said Hunter, who was sat across her in the booth. M didn’t hesitate to down the first two shot before she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, gesturing for the stranger in the trench coat next to Stephanie to begin speaking.

“My name is Isla. I am an Angel of the Lord, and a soldier of Heaven.” Isla introduced herself, she sat calmly with her hands clasped together. A simple glass of water in front of her. “I had been in the area when I had heard a cry for help from you, Stephanie, the Prophet of the Lord.”

“I didn’t call out to you though.” Said Stephanie.

“No, but I could sense your distress and so I came. We, Angels, are very sensitive to prophets, especially the current one.” Isla looked at her.

“The current one?” asked M, she downed another shot.

“Yes, there are more than one prophet born at each time, but only one is active at a time.” Explained Isla. “However, some people who are chosen as prophets may not become active during their lifetime, and therefore never know that they were one.”

“But why me? Why did God decide to make me a Prophet?” Stephanie had to ask; she didn’t understand what was so special about her? She wasn’t religious, she didn’t go to Church, hell, she was pretty sure she never even prayed to God before.

Isla was silent for a moment.

“Well actually, it was supposed to be your mother, Crystal Brown.” She informed her. “However, due to her unfortunate circumstances at the time, the decision was revoked and her responsibilities were passed on to you instead.”

Stephanie took another sip of her beer. She didn’t have to think too hard to identity what Isla had been referring to when she mentioned ‘unfortunate circumstances’ – she recalled a dark period in her childhood and early teenage years where her mother had been in a really bad place, an addict dependant on the pills of her pain medication. She didn’t like to remember her mom in that light, especially after all the efforts she had made to clean up her act recently over the past few years.

Isla’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts, “Certainly, you must have always suspected something.” She was looking right at Stephanie now. “After all, you were given a second chance at life.” She told her.

Stephanie bit her bottom lip, for a moment, she remembered that dream. The one that kept coming back sometimes… the one where she was in a line waiting to go to Heaven, but she was always pulled away before she could get onboard the train, “… I always thought that was a dream.” She admitted.

Isla shook her head, “That was no dream, Stephanie.” She insisted, seriously. “You did die, but because Heaven had made the decision to make you the next prophet instead of you mother, you were given a second chance at life to fulfil your role.”

“What role exactly?”

“Your role as Prophet, the messenger of God.” Answered Isla as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. “You’re the only person who can read or see anything that God has ever written.” She told her. “You must have noticed by now, but you have abilities – abilities that make you a target.”

Stephanie flinched at that last part.

The sudden clink of a shot glass hitting the table pulled their attention towards M, who was now more than halfway through her row of shots. She rubbed her forehead lightly before grabbing the next shot, “Alright, I have two questions, one for each of you – 1) What abilities?” She pointed a finger at Stephanie, “and 2) What is it about these abilities that makes her a target?” she glanced over to Isla.

“I see glowing auras around people, and I can tell if they’re good or bad.” Stated Stephanie, plainly.

M nodded before turning to Isla for further explanation.

“That is one of the abilities of a Prophet.” Added Isla, “but perhaps the reason why any supernatural being, especially the demons, desire to either kidnap or kill you is because of your ability to read.”

At that, M down her glass before slamming it back down onto the table again. “Read? You’re telling me that blondie here has a huge target on her head because she can read.” She began to reach for another one. “I need another shot.”

“Yes, because she has the ability to read certain heavenly items that entail how to bring on the Apocalypse.” Reaffirmed Isla.

M threw her free hand out in the air, “You could have just said that to begin with.” She took the final shot.

If Stephanie hadn’t been so invested in M’s ability to still think rationally despite downing ten straight shots, she would have reacted faster to what the Angel had said.

“Woah, hold on for a minute.” Said the blonde, finally catching up to the rest of the conversation. “What Apocalypse?” She asked Isla, seriously.

Isla stared back at her, her eyes never leaving Stephanie’s gaze. “One that can end humanity itself. A disastrous event so great that not even a being, either heavenly nor demons, could survive it. It would be the end of the planet as we know it.”

She felt a chill run down her spine, “So, I cause the end of the world?” It came out as a whisper.

“You could potentially do so, if you were to fall into the wrong hands.” Said Isla.

If that was meant to cheer Stephanie up, it did help at all. Instead, it set her further into a state of stress.

“Oh my god,” She leaned back against the booth chair. She shut her blue eyes for a moment, taking in all this new information. ‘God,’ “This is not what I wanted when I said I wanted a new start in life.”

“Okay,” said M, who had managed come back from a trip to the drink bar, in her hand a bowl of melted cheesy fries now. “So, say that I ‘accidentally’ kill her?” Isla glared at her. “Hypothetically.” Added M, quickly, “what would happen?” She asked.

“The prophet who is next in line after Stephanie would become active, and they would become a target.”

“So, there’s essentially no end to the cycle.” Concluded M, tossing another fry into her mouth. “That’s so reassuring.” She stated sarcastically.

“No, there isn’t.” Agreed Isla before she turned to meet Stephanie’s eyes again. “Which is why it’s my, and every other Angel’s, duty to ensure that no harm ever comes to the Prophet of the Lord.”

“So, where were you when bitch-boy came for blondie?” interjected M.

That was true.

If the Angels were meant to be looking out for her, where were they when she had been mere seconds away from being werewolf food? Better yet, if they brought her back to life years ago, where the hell had they been each time she had nearly been so close to death as Batgirl?

“We knew that you were close enough around to handle it, Hunter.” Answered Isla. “Therefore, we left it to you to handle the situation, which you did and we are grateful for that.” She reached for her glass of water, the first time she had done so since they’ve arrived. “Any other questions?”

“So, what you’re telling me is that other beings are out there, after me?” Stephanie stared between the two of them.

“Yes.” Replied Isla.

“So, I’m going to just have to live out the rest of my life in fear because some supernatural beings are after my magical abilities, or to just kill me.” Exclaimed Stephanie in disbelief.

Isla nodded, “Essentially.” The Angel thought for a moment before adding, “the last Prophet lived a relatively long life, seventy-five years.”

She had to admit, that was pretty long considering the circumstances that they were constantly being hunted. But still, she was curious. “Well, what happened to that person?”

“He got ambushed by a nest of vampires in his hidden cabin last month and killed himself so that they couldn’t take him. I believe he exploded himself.” 

Last month.

‘That’s around the same time I started seeing things…’ “So, vampires exist too? Like Twilight vampires or Dracula vampires?”

“Think any supernatural lore, in the bible, in myths, urban legends, essentially anything – there’s good chance that it exists out there in the world.” Answered M, she was using a paper napkin to wipe her fingers now. The young woman had easily demolished her bowl of cheesy fries.

“Then why haven’t the Justice League or any of the superheroes heard of them?” questioned Stephanie.

At the mention of the superheroes, M rolled her dark blue eyes. “Because it’s not their job to hunt them, its mine.” She told her bluntly. “Look, there a lot more Hunters out there than you think, and its our job to save people from these beings. Sometimes, we have to do the things superheroes would never dare to do.” Stated M. “Seriously, do you think Superman would have killed that werewolf? Or any other superhero for that matter?”

Stephanie shook her head, she understood where M was going with this.

She had worked with other superheroes before, and she couldn’t ever imagine either one of them ever being capable of taking a life so easily without hesitation. Hell, she even worked for the Dark Knight. The guy practically preached about not killing people, or ever using guns.

M had a point.

“They don’t kill, and that’s essentially what we have to do when it comes to dealing with supernatural beings.” She told her. “You should know, you nearly got killed twice today.” The blonde winced at that reminder.

“But what if they’re not all bad.” Inquired Stephanie.

“They’re rare instances.” Responded Isla.

M nodded, pointing at the Angel as she sipped a beer that Stephanie could only assume she had bought when getting her fries. “See, even the Angel agrees with me.”

“So, how do you know where to find them?” Inquired Stephanie. She felt stupid for asking this but she just needed to clarify a few things. “I mean, the werewolf that we saw today, I could have sworn that if you got rid of the fangs, super sharp nails and even the wolf-like features, it could have almost looked human.”

M shrugged, it was a fair point. “Most of them do.” She retorted. “Believe it or not, humans aren’t the only ones walking this planet.” Added M, before pointing her finger at Isla who said nothing. “Example one.”

Stephanie rolled her eyes, “Yeah, I know that. There are aliens in the Justice League for goodness sakes,” she told her before repeating her initial question, “but how do you know?”

“Well, we look at newspapers or articles, or even hear about things that sound out of the ordinary and we go investigate it. Sometimes it’s a hit, sometimes it’s a miss.” Said M, simply with a light shrug. “Most of the time, it’s a hit though.”

“And you kill them? Without even finding out why they’re doing the things they’re doing?”

“We do what we have to do to protect people. Sometimes, yes, it does mean we have to kill people if they continue to stand as a potential threat.” Countered M, plainly. She wasn’t going to sugar-coat her profession. She took lives, it is what it is.

“Like that werewolf?”

“Like that werewolf.” M’s eyes met Stephanie’s as she spoke seriously, “If I hadn’t dealt with it there and then, it would have given in to its carnal instincts and desire to feed each night as the full moon approaches. The death toll would have gotten higher, and we can’t have that now can we.”

Stephanie nodded before turning to Isla, “And Amy? Or, at least I think it was Amy?”

“The Demon that had possessed her was keeping her body alive and functioning. That girl had suffered in a car accident a few months ago, her entire body had been broken at the time of possession. In a way, she was merely a vessel for the demon. I disposed of the Demon before it could have escaped, and potentially compromised your location.” Replied the Angel without missing a beat. 

“And actual Amy?”

Isla didn’t even bat an eye, “Would have succumbed to her initial impact injuries.”

At that, the reality of her new situation was suddenly finally starting to settle in.

She was a walking target.

And it seemed that whatever was after her, which could really be anything supernatural, was never above using or killing other innocent people to get to her. Nobody around her was safe anymore.

“I’m not safe here anymore, am I?”

“I’m afraid not.” Agreed Isla, “it would be best for you leave immediately, Stephanie.”

The blonde had to agree too.

“Alright then,” Stephanie turned to look at M straight in the eye, “I want in.”

The Hunter nearly choked on her beer, “Excuse me?” She managed to splutter out in disbelief.

“I want to be a Hunter.” Reiterated Stephanie, confidently.

M shook her head in disagreement, “No. This isn’t a game.” She told her. “You can get killed out there in the field.” She hissed, lowly, leaning in.

The blonde leaned in too, her blue eyes hardened as she stared back at M. “I grew up in Gotham City – crime and corruption central, I used to be a vigilante who fought crime every night for the past year. I think I can hold my own against these things.” She told her; her voice low as well.

“Well I hate to break it to you sweetheart but demons, werewolves and all those other nasty things out there are _a little different_ from the humans you’re used to, who run around at night in tight colourful spandex or costumes.”

“But they’re going to be looking for me, so wouldn’t it be easier if I was travelling with you?” Stephanie smirked; she knew she had an upper hand here.

“And why should I help you?” asked M.

“Because it’s you don’t, a lot of good people are going to lose their lives.” Interrupted Isla.

“What she said.” Stephanie tilted her head over to the Angel as M frowned.

The Hunter leaned back against her seat, she shut her eyes for a moment. Stephanie could tell that she was contemplating this all, weighing her options. After a few seconds, she let out a sigh of defeat. “Fine, I’ll take you with me but I’m not going to be responsible for whatever harm comes your way.”

Stephanie grinned. “That’s fine.” She turned to Isla, “So, hypothetically, if I’m in danger, you’ll come to my rescue?”

The Angel nodded, “Only if you would like me to.”

“Yes, please.” Said Stephanie, an appreciative smile on her lips. “I would greatly appreciate that.”

M rolled her eyes, “That’s cheating.”

“Hey, I was taught to utilise all my resources and I’m pretty sure that Angel protection counts as that.” Stephanie shot back with a smirk.

She hated to admit it, but had missed this.

Fighting crime – well, not exactly crime. But the thought of getting to save people again, to save lives, the thought of it brought a rush of adrenaline throughout her body. She hated to admit it, but she really missed it. She missed being out there in the field, helping people. Even if the circumstances weren’t ideal, she was still glad that she would be able to go back to doing what she loved.

‘Sorry, Leslie. I guess I just wasn’t destined to be normal.’ Sighed Stephanie.

After that, they had decided to return to Downey Hall.

However, much to their shock and surprise, the residence hall had gone up in flames.

“Holy shit.” Whispered Stephanie, her blue eyes wide in disbelief as she stared at the flames eating at the place that she was meant to call home for the next year.

“Did you?” M turned to look at Isla, who shook her head.

“Something else came after we left.” Isla turned to Stephanie, a sense of urgency in her tone. “You need to leave now. I must go, but call me when you need me.” And with that, she was gone.

M let out low whistle as her eyes glazed over the extent of the fire, “Guess that means you won’t need to pack.” She placed a hand on the blonde’s shoulder before turning her away from the crowd. “Come on, blondie. Let’s hit the road.”

"Wait, aren't you a student here?" asked Stephanie as she followed M down the road.

M laughed, "Please, as if I'd put myself through that boring education system." She took out the keys to her black 1967 Chevy Impala car. "I was tracking that werewolf, had been since it left Denver."

"So, you were undercover." Stated Stephanie as she opened the passenger seat door. 

"Yeah, let's go with that." M dropped herself into the driver seat. "Alright, blondie. Buckle up and get ready for the adventure of your life."

Stephanie grinned, "I'm can't wait."

M chuckled, "Try to stay alive."

"No promises." 

* * *

Vicki Vale had been sat in the office the next morning when her boss dropped by.

The man proceeded to drop a file onto her desk in front of her, startling her from her initial work.

She frowned as she stared back up at him, but not before curiously picking up the file to get a better look at it, “What is this?” Her thumbs opened the manila folder.

“You wanted a news breaking headline, Vale, I got you one.” Said the man, he pointed over to the folder. “A girl from Gotham City is missing, her dorm room had been consumed by flames last night. The whole dorm almost burnt down, but there were only two bodies found inside the room.”

“Dawn Drew and Amy Hale.” Vicki scanned over the information, ‘Two charred bodies, and one even cut in half. Whoever carried this out knew what they were doing.’

“The missing girl’s roommate and her friend.” Supplied her boss.

“And the name of the missing?” asked Vicki.

“Stephanie Rose Brown, a former Pre-med Gotham University student.” It didn’t take long for Vicki to find the information. “Apparently, she has the same name as that Robin who died a few years ago in the Gang Wars. What a coincidence right?”

That clicked something in her mind. She knew that name sounded too familiar to her.

“Coincidence indeed.” Said Vicki, before she placed the file back down. “When do you need the article out?”

“Hopefully by tomorrow, we need to help find this girl and bring her home to her family.” He told her.

“I’m on it.”

* * *

When Tim Drake picked up and opened the newspaper the next morning in his office, he was not prepared to see Stephanie Brown’s smiling face staring back at him. The photograph that had been taken from her University student identification card and had been blown up to cover a majority of the page.

As his blue eyes flickered over to see the photograph’s accompanying headline, the cup in his hand slipped and came crashing down. His coffee spilling everywhere, most likely to leave a stain on his office carpet, but he didn’t care right now.

He had bigger worries.

**‘Local Gothamite University of Wyoming student missing after mysterious fire breaks out in her room: Accident or intentional?’**

“Steph…”

The feeling of guilt instantaneously washes over him as his mind goes back to the last conversation they had the night before. He had been such an ass on the phone to her last night.

Now that he was really thinking about, he should have sensed the urgency in her voice from the moment he picked up the phone but he had refused to acknowledge it. Instead, he had just wanted her to hang up and stop calling him – and now look what happened.

She was missing.

‘Or kidnapped? And even murdered?’ The more he read the article, the worse he felt.

There was a knock on his office door, he turned to see Tam Fox, she had an incredibly worried expression on her face as two men in black suits walked into the room.

“Mr. Timothy Jackson Drake?” One asked.

“Yes. What is this about?”

They shared a look before speaking, “We’d like to bring you in to discuss your involvement with the missing case of one Miss Stephanie Brown. Phone records show that you were the last person she had ever called before she went missing.”

* * *

**Epilogue (?)**

_“No! Fuck you, Timothy Jackson Drake. And fuck the rest of you who are listening to this call. Fine, you can have your stupid wish.”_

The recording played loud and clear to everyone present in the interrogation room.

The leading investigator, FBI Agent Gibson placed the recorder down on the table. “Her phone was found burnt in the debris of the room.” He clasped his fingers together as he leaned in closer to the man sat across him.

He sat there calmly, unnerved by it all and it just made Gibson want to shake him up until he gave him the answers he needed so much more. There was a missing girl on the line for goodness sakes.

Gibson continued to speak, “her roommate, Dawn, was found mutilated, her body parts chopped up. Amy had her eyes burned out, before the start of the fire. You can understand the urgency, can’t you? We would like to ensure that Miss Brown is safe and returned to her mother…” he said, before meeting the cool set of blue eyes belonging to the man in front him. “Now, there is something interesting in that recording I played out earlier… She said ‘she got fired’. From our and your records, Stephanie Brown had never worked for Wayne Enterprise, now would you care to elaborate what she meant when ‘she got fired’, Mr. Wayne?”

Bruce Wayne’s eyes narrowed.

* * *

In a separate interrogation room, FBI Agent Piaget was having a slightly easier time with her interview.

“You had both been romantically involved in the past.” She asked the young man seated before her.

“Yes.”

“Was the break up amicable?”

Timothy Drake couldn’t answer that.

* * *

“You were a lecturer at Gotham University previously, weren’t you?” The man glanced over at the file in his hand as he paced in front of his interviewee. As he read over a certain piece of information, he couldn’t help but glance over at the young woman in front of him.

She sat silently; her expression unreadable.

“It’s interesting, records say that you were bound to a wheelchair until recently… that’s quite some miracle, Miss Gordon.” He dropped the file onto the desk in front of her, pushing copied scans of her spine x-rays and medical records for her own two eyes to see. “According to your medical records, you should have never been able to walk again from that bullet, care to explain how you managed such a feat?”

* * *

In the early hours of the following morning after all these interviews, Vicki Vale released another article, one that caught the attention of all of Gotham city.

**‘The Fall of the Wayne Empire?’**

The article went into an in-depth report about how various members of the Wayne family and their known associates, including GCPD’s Commissioner Gordon’s own daughter, Barbara Gordon, were interviewed by FBI in relation to the missing case of Stephanie Brown.

Nobody knew how she had even found out about these elusive interviews, but what they did know was that nobody was going to forget about this any time soon.

**Author's Note:**

> I initially wrote this with the intention of this being a prologue for a multichapter fic, but I’m still unsure whether to go through with it or not because I wasn't sure where this story would go. 
> 
> So, I left it as a one-shot for now.
> 
> I might make a sequel or continuation of this, for now, I don't know.


End file.
